In the News

Marathon Drugs Increases Price 70-Fold – 2/10/17 More predation by pharma. Marathon has gotten a decades old muscular dystrophy drug, deflazacort, approved and is charging $89,000 a year for it. It’s price in Europe is under $1500/year. Where are the free market forces? Why aren’t our elected officials protecting us from this egregious practice?

Promising New Prostate Cancer Treatment – 2/2/17 A new and very effective prostate cancer treatment, reported here, has a two-year relapse rate of around 25%. Though clearly not a cure, it has a major benefit in that, unlike all other treatments, it has no. Light fibres are inserted in the prostate, rather like a biopsy, and a light-sensitive drug is administered. The cancerous tissue is killed, and all else left alone. Would certainly be worth a try.

Hypertension Developing Late in Life Halves Onset of Dementia – 1/21/17 Research here indicate that people who develop hypertension in late in life has almost half the reate of dementia. Yet more proof that hypertension has a purpose and unless it is off the charts, is best left alone.

Lowest Stroke Rates in Older Baby Boomers; Younger People Rising– 9/12/16 reports the American Heart Association, here. There could be numerous factors at work. Less smoking among the baby boomers and less healthy diet among the young would be our guess.

Sugar Lobby Promotes Sugar– 11/13/16 Surreal. JAMA reports here that the sugar lobby has been systematically attempting to put the blame for heart diseases on something other than sugar. What were they supposed to do? They’re the sugar lobby. The real question is, “Why did Standard Medicine buy it?”

Zika Breakthrough– 8/30/16 Reported here and elsewhere, two existing (already approved) drugs appear to be effective against Zika. If this pans out, it will speed things up immeasurably.

AHA Limits Added Sugar– 8/17/16 A sensible recommendation from the American Heart Association limits sugar for children aged 2-18 to fewer than 6 teaspoons a day. Paper here. A better recommendation: Fewer than 0 teaspoons added sugar per day for all children aged 0-110.

Calcium Supplements Linked to Dementia– 8/17/16 A report in the journal Neurology, here, links calcium supplements to dementia in some groups of women. The risk, alarmingly, is double for this group.

Suppression of Antioxidants Kills Pancreatic Cancer cells– 7/28/16 Researchers at Cold Springs Harbor Labs find that antioxidants are, in some cases, aiding cancer, and by suppressing the antioxidants, the oxidants are then able to kill the cancer. Link here.

High Cholesterol Found to be Cancer Protective– 7/9/16 A study presented at a British Cardiovascular Society Conference, link here, finds that high cholesterol is significantly protective for four common cancers: breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal. Reasons for this are unknown.

Zinc Acetate Lozenges Reduce Length of Common Cold– 7/6/16 Zinc for a cold is a Dr. Mike favorite. Here’s some science to back it up. A study published here finds that Zinc Acetate Lozenges shorten common colds by three days.

BMJ Article: Bad Cholesterol Isn’t Bad After All– 6/13/16 This is huge. In BMJ Open, here, a peer reviewed study finds that high “bad” cholesterol, aka LDL-cholesterol, is inversely associated with mortality. Higher levels=less death. The stuff is good for you. This is heresy of the first water. Expect a huge blow-back. The lipid hypothysis—that high LDL cholesterol causes heart disease—is ingrained in the medical community like an eleventh commandment. It has never been proven, and kudos to BMJ for daring to run this article. (We would crow that we have repeatedly posted that the dangers of LDL cholesterol were nonexistent, but we will be nice and refrain.)

Stem Cell Injection Reversed Strokes– 6/6/16 At Stanford, reported here, stroke patients receiving injection of mesenchymal stem cells directly into the brain experienced, in some cases, dramatic improvement. If this research holds up, this is an astounding result. “This wasn’t just, ‘They couldn’t move their thumb, and now they can.’ Patients who were in wheelchairs are walking now,” said lead researcher Steinberg.

Bariactric Surgery Now Recommended for Diabetes– 5/26/16 The American Diabetes Association (ADA), and other groups, have now endorsed bariactric surgery (stomach stapling) as a treatment for adult onset or type 2 diabetes (ADOM). We are not making this up. Report here. Of course the ADA dietary recommendations are almost guaranteed to prolong AODM, so we suppose some sort of strange logic is at work here. For the surgery-free, drug-free Quantitative Medicine method, click here.

Low Salt May Be Dangerous – 5/20/16 The prestigious British journal Lancet reports here that low salt intake is more dangerous than high intake. This is heresy, of course, and the article, the magazine, and the authors have already been condemned and will be burnt at the stake. The QM view is that high salt intake is a fairly minor factor. In this article, high intake is worse only for those with high blood pressure, whereas low salt intake is dangerous to those with high blood pressure, and those with normal blood pressure. Again, standard-practice medicine has been making things worse.

JAMA Discovers QM – 5/19/16 The prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports here that secession of of smoking, non-heavy drinking, and exercise reduce cancer. Now while it’s wonderful that they have now seen the light, or at least are circling around it, hasn’t this been obvious for the last 50 years? They studied only white males. Are they setting us up for a sequel? Let’s spoil that one: it works for everybody.

Calcium/Vitamin D Causes a Stroke or Heart Attack for Each Fracture prevented – 5/12/16 From a Norwegian study reported here, “Our analysis shows that if 100,000 65-year-old women take 1000 mg calcium every day, 5890 hip fractures and 3820 other fractures would be prevented. On the other hand, as many as 5917 heart attacks and 4373 strokes could be caused.” A horrid tradeoff made worse by the fact that osteoporosis is easily prevented and reversed with no supplements needed. See posts here, here, and here

Medical Error Third Leading Cause of Death in U.S. – 5/3/16 This is not news. As a leading cause of death in hospitals,medical error has been a focal area for almost 20 years. However, findings published here in the British Medical Journal.indicate the the problem is far from solved. Deaths due to medical error represent around 10% of deaths, some 250,000. One problem, according to the article, is that adequate records aren’t kept: the deaths are often attributed to something else. Best strategy: stay out of hospitals.

Big Pharma to World: Take Something! – 4/21/16 From JAMA, here, a trial was conducted for patients who couldn’t tolerate stains.(42%, in fact). The “solution” was to give them ezetimibe, a drug with no known benefit and some probably harm, a drug currently approved for a very, very narrow cohort of off-the-charts high cholesterol. Only 27% could not stand this drug, so the trial was considered a success. The drug industry seems insistent on cramming ezetimibe down our throats. To even embark on this strange experiment shows a callousness and disregard for patient benefit that surprises even us.

Is Fructose Highly Dangerous? – 4/21/16 Maybe. From UCLA we have a finding that fructose is linked to detrimental changes to hundreds of brain genes. Press release here. Scary stuff, and it makes some sense. The body goes to a lot of trouble to keep dietary fructose out of circulation, converting most of it to a concentrated form of glucose called glycogen, and rapidly removing any excess that does get into circulation. The reason for this aversion to fructose is not known, but the research sited above may provide a significant clue. Besides a major sugar component of fruit, table sugar is a 50-50 mix of fructose and glucose, as is high-fructose corn syrup, a ubiquitous food additive.

Are Proton Pump Inhibitors Overprescribed? – 4/15/16 A new report In the Journal of the American Society of Nephrolog seems to indicate that long term use of proton pump inhibitors, which significant reduce stomach acidity, causes increased kidney disease. Such drugs are widely prescribed and are also available over-the-counter. Though likely safe for short-term use, longer term consumption seems to have problems.

FDA Pulls Plug on Combo Drug – 4/15/16 In a rare glimmer of sanity, the FDA has withdrawn approval on a drug called Niaspan, which is a combination of statins and niacin. The approval was made in 1997. Given that is know that statins are practically useless, and that niacin actually increases heart problems, you may wonder what they were waiting for. So do we.Might they now consider the rest of the dangerous drugs out there? Details here.

Interesting Alzheimer’s-Insulin Result – 4/13/16 An NYU business school researcher has connected some interesting dots. It is well know that high insulin is involved in Alzheimers, but the connection wasn’t clear. It seems that the enzyme that breaks down insulin is the same one that breaks down amyloid-beta plaque, the tangled mess that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Schiller’s idea is that perhaps the all the enzyme resources are spent on the high insulin, and the amyoid-beta doesn’t get removed. Details here.

Another Early Cancer Detection Breakthrough – 4/8/16 Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, have created an optical biosensor for cancer detection that is a million times more sensitive than previous versions, pointing the way toward an effective early detection system for cancer and other illnesses.This might greatly improve early detection, which is ket to fighting cancer.Details here.

Choral Singing May Reduce Cancer – 4/5/16Researchers in Wales have determined that choral group singing improves levels of several anti-cancer hormones and biochemicals. Paper can be found here. In view of the next news item, the song Java Jive should probably be included in the repertoire.

Coffee Reduces Colorectal Cancer 50% – 4/1/16 Researchers at USC report “We found that drinking coffee is associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer, and the more coffee consumed, the lower the risk.” The press release is here. Dramatics reductions of up to 50% were seen. This area has been controversial for 20 years. The mechanism of cancer prevention is unknown, though it doesn’t seem to be caffeine, as decaf works as well.

Early Cancer Detection Breakthrough – 3/29/16Researchers at UCLA have developed a PET probe capable of producing far better images in certain types of cancers. With cancer, early detection is key. Clinical trials of the procedure may begin this year. Further info here.

Blonds Found to Be Non-Dumb – 3/23/16 A study here has found that blonds have a slightly higher IQ that non-blond people.Quoting,”Blonde women have a higher mean IQ than women with brown, red and black hair. Blondes are more likely classified as geniuses and less likely to have extremely low IQ.” It is hard to predict what researchers will think of to do research on. How about: “Do Blonds Have More Fun?”

Meal Time More Important Than Previously Thought – 3/17/16 Every traveler know that disrupting the circadian rhythm—the sleep cycle— is no picnic. New research from the Weizmann Institute indicates that not only is the body locked into this cycle, but even our mitochondria are. Mitochondria are tiny bacterial like cells found within almost all our own cells that convert the food we eat to energy. They apparently have time-driven hungry states, wherein they are ready and willing to convert the food to energy, and sleepy state as well. This means having meals at a regular time is more critical than previously thought.

Alzheimer’s and Brain Research – 3/17/16 There are almost daily reports of discoveries or possible breakthroughs involving Alzheimer’s and the brain. Just today, there are three such reports, all on mice, and so it is unknown if the results would carry over. There are reports of new neurons grown from stem cells, lost memories reactivate through light flashes, and increasing available neural energy by injecting pyruvate, an intermediate of glucose metabolism. A very active area.

Antidepressants Increase Mortality – 3/16/16 A study from Auburn and University of Alabama show a slight increase in mortality with uses of second generation anti-depressants.Report here. Knowledge of this will likely offset any anti-depression benefit as well. I much stronger anti-depressant that features a very strong reduction of mortality is exercise.

Canadian Medicine Discovers Exercise – 3/14/16 Canadian Medical Association announces: “Many doctors and their patients aren’t aware that exercise is a treatment for these chronic conditions and can provide as much benefit as drugs or surgery, and typically with fewer harms.” Not really. It actually provides A LOT MORE benefit. Bit it’s a step for organized medicine. Next week: hot water.

Exercise Reduces Alzheimer’s 50% – 3/11/16 No surprise at our end. But here, another study demonstrates the most effect way to prevent Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s Caused By Microbes? – 3/10/16 Researchers have reported that a virus and two types of bacteria are a major cause of Alzheimers. A microbial connection has been (and probably will remain) controversial. However, the causes of Alzheimer’s are not known.

Magic Pill Announced – 3/4/16 Drug companies adore lifelong drugs, and the latest “breakthrough” combines statins, blood pressure reducers, aspirin, and adult onset diabetes medication, and is called a Polypill. However none of these four have shown any mortality benefit, and all of them have serious side effects. But in combination, they are suddenly magical? The idea seems to be to get rid of screening and blood testa altogether, and put everyone over 50 on this pill. This idea is so bad, it would be praising it to call it crazy.

Breast Cancer Breakthrough – 3/3/16 A new drug combo is very effective against the HER-2 variant of breast cancer. A fourth of those treated saw dramatic reduction in tumor size, while in an additional 11% the tumor completely disappeared, in under two weeks. Details here.

Television Exposure Directly Linked To A Thin Body Ideal In Women – 2/22/16 The only real question here is: Are they paying grown-ups to come up with this? It’s a real study. Details here. What will they study next? How about: Driving Blindfolded May Increase Accident Risk.

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Quick Selector

Cancer Basics – Part 1 – Initiation and Progression

Cancer is a disorder of the DNA. Some damage has caused a cell to start dividing in an uncontrolled fashion. Sin

ce the damaged DNA is replicated in cell division, the process continues, eventually forming a tumor. DNA damage is usually due to some sort of cellular stress. Some can be controlled and some cannot. The body has numerous defenses against cancer. A successful tumor must thwart them all to become life threatening.

This is the first in a 3 part series, discussing Cancer Initiation and Progression. The next post in the series, part 2, discusses Diagnosis and Prognosis. Part 3 explains how various lifestyle choices can affect cancer.

Like atherosclerosis, adult onset diabetes, and osteoporosis cancer can be prevented and at the earlier stages, reversed. In fact almost all cancer is eradicated by the immune system long before it forms a tumor large enough to be detected or cause damage.

A cancerous cell is one that is damaged at the DNA level and is replicating the damage. These cells must be killed or otherwise immobilized, either via the immune system or by medical intervention such as surgery and chemotherapy. Repair isn’t really possible here.

Many people are unaware that the immune system can fight cancer at all. In fact, it is the first line of defense and prevents almost all damaged cells from going very far awry. Natural killer cells, a type of immune system white cell, are patrolling for errant cells. In fact, for a cell to become cancerous, the natural killer function has to be thwarted, along with quite a few other things.

One might think that DNA, redundant, protected, and tucked away in the cell nucleus, is pristine and reliable. This is not the case. Damage to the DNA is common. Something like 60,000 repairs are made to a single cell’s DNA daily. Multiply this by the 100 trillion cells and you get some idea of the astronomical level of DNA repair that is continually going on.

Heart disease and Adult Onset Diabetes are mainly caused by inappropriate lifestyle choices. However, cancer has a variety of causes and many of them are not under our control:

· Smoke

· Ultra-violet light from the sun

· Toxic materials in the food chain

· Air pollution

· Water pollution

· Radiation from radioactive materials or the cosmos

· X-rays

Infections can also play a role. We will not address this as it can get very specific and become misleading.

Cancer and DNA damage can also be initiated by several factors within our control. A diet lacking in nutrients could weaken cells, as could an imbalance of various cellular biochemicals, or an overabundance of free-radicals. Chronic stress levels and poor sleep patterns diminish the immune system’s natural cancer fighting ability.

Repairing Cellular Damage

Regardless of the source of the damage, the cell has considerable machinery available to attempt a repair. Like any other cellular function, cellular health is a prerequisite for efficient performance of this activity. Now DNA is famously composed of a double strand of complementary nucleotides. So if a single strand is damaged, it can be replaced by using the undamaged complementary piece as a template. This assumes, of course, that the cell knows which strand is the undamaged one. It usually gets this right, but how exactly isn’t really known in complete detail.

On the other hand, some sorts of DNA damage are not reparable, for instance, a double strand break. This is a dangerous one. The blueprint for possible reconstruction is obliterated. The typical repair consists of tossing out the broken section and rejoining the broken strands. This isn’t so much a repair as a cellular kluge, and clearly, that strand might cause problems. Almost always, such a cell won’t make it through the next cell division, but if it does, we now have two new maverick cells, with unknown intent, that can replicate, again a candidate for tumor generation.

The ‘standard procedure’ for these un-repairable cases is for the cell to commit suicide, called apoptosis, or else just sort of fizzle out, called senescence. Of course, the cell has to be functioning well enough to do this, which is an obvious weak spot. Cells that don’t follow the ‘rules’ are tumor candidates.

Most Cancers Start In Stem or Progenitor Cells

A single damaged cell may do goofy things, but is unlikely to cause any harm unless it can divide. After all, it’s only one of a hundred trillion. Normally only stem and progenitor cells have the ability to divide. See the Stem Cell Basics – Replacement Organs post for more info. As stem cells differentiate down toward their working everyday versions, the ability to divide is lost. Likewise, many cells are around for life, and there is little division going on there.

Thus, where you find the cancers is mostly where you find the stem and progenitor cells, and you find these associated with tissues that renew, like skin, the intestines, colon, lungs, throat, and so on. Cancer is far less common in the permanent cells, like the brain, the heart, muscle, etc. (Actually brain cancer almost always involves a cancer that has started somewhere else and taken up residence in the brain, i.e. metastasized, or a cancer from the glial cells, the part of the brain that provides the structure for the neurons, and does in fact divide.)

Stem and progenitor cells are usually as protected as they reasonably can be. The ones for the skin are under several skin layers, (note from guy with Cheap English Skin: not enough layers to protect from the California sun) those for the intestine are in little intestinal cubbyholes called ‘crypts’, safely away from the caustic intestinal lumen. The white and red blood cells are generated in the middle of bones. Hard to get more protected than that.

A Sequence of Mutations Are Needed To Launch A Cancer

Given how many things have to go wrong to get a life-threatening tumor, you would think it could never happen. Of course, we know otherwise, but consider the sequence of events required:

1. A mutation in a cell’s DNA needs to happen. We have already discussed numerous causes for this.

2. This mutation has to cause uncontrolled division. Most mutations are completely unrelated to division.

3. Various cellular mechanisms specifically designed to block unregulated proliferation must be disabled.

4. A mutation must also thwart the cellular mechanisms that cause programmed cell death – apoptosis.

5. The mutation must similarly block senescence.

6. The mutation has to deceive the meandering white cells that are looking for cell abnormalities. Specifically the mutated cell has to display a certain protein indicating that it is intact and normal, when it fact it is not.

7. Angiogenesis. This is a key step. The cells may begin proliferating, but they need to eat. Where is the blood supply? Blood can diffuse about half a millimeter at most, which limits the tumor growth to about the size of this “o”. Any further division will stall out from lack of nutrients. Another mutation is needed at this point to start producing an enzyme that causes new blood vessels to grow. This is called angiogenesis.

8. Now the tumor can grow, possibly quite large, but it may not yet be life threatening. In fact, a tumor bigger than a raisin can be spotted with an MRI – provided one is done. But people aren’t routinely scanned. If there is a symptom, some pain for instance, then there might be a scan, and if a contained tumor is discovered, it will probably be successfully removed or eradicated. So if the tumor is to progress further, it will need to maintain a stealthy symptom free profile.

9. To continue its lethal course, the tumor must now metastasize. So the next mutation is one that will allow tiny pieces of the tumor to detach and enter the bloodstream or the lymph system. Note that this step would be easy for any sort of cell that normally circulates in either system. This is the situation with leukemia, where the leukocytes (white blood cells) have become cancerous.

10. The bloodstream and lymph system are fairly loaded with immune cells, so the cancer will have to have a way to evade detection there.

11. Still another mutation is needed to enable the tumorous material to burrow back out of the bloodstream or lymph system and inflict itself on some other organ.

12. Depending on where the metastatic tumor material landed, additional mutation may be needed in order for it to thrive further.

So why do we ever get cancer? The odds are small, but the number of cells is high, so the rare sequences do happen. In a sense, we always have cancer. In anyone’s body, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of tiny cancers are at various stages of development. How far any of them get depends a lot on cellular health, mitochondrial health, and an active immune system. And all of this is strongly influenced by lifestyle choices.

Many anti-cancer therapies attempt to block one of these steps. For example if angiogenesis, the production of new blood vessels, can be blocked, the cancers are stuck at a small non-lethal size. On the other hand if angiogenesis is completely blocked the host, that would be the patient, also dies.

6 comments for “Cancer Basics – Part 1 – Initiation and Progression ”

My Son was diagnose with Lymph Cancer yesterday. There are a tumour 10x12x21 under his skin by his chest. And his Lymph notes under his arms and legs are swollen. Is this a death Sentence and can it be cured? Docters are planning to remove this tomorrow.

Hi Joe,
I am so sorry you and your family and son are living through this. I will tell you what you must surely know: I cannot possibly comment on your son’s case in a blog format. My refusal to speculate is NOT because I am withholding some terrible news, my refusal is based on the simple fact that I cannot possibly know enough about your son’s case to make useful remarks. God’s Peace and Hope and Healing be with you and your son this day and everyday. Dr. Mike

“One World One Health One Medicine” Let’s get control of Human Zoonosis—INTERNAL PARASITES which robs the body of essential nutrients, release toxins into the body, thus depressing the immune system, body cells (DNA) mutate
the body knows something is foreign, forms a cyst/mass
Cancerous Lesion/Tumor
Please perform a feces exam on one and all for Internal Parasites
a study that I have conducted since 1984

In August 2015 I had a flu symptom and felt a few painless lump in the neck. I consulted a GP from my company who put me on antibiotic for review a week later.
After 1 week, those lump remain the same and the GP put me on another course of antibiotic and a referral letter to Singapore General Hospital Otolaryngology (ENT) dept. on 9th Sept. 2015.
I was advice to consult a Singhealth Polyclinics GP for another referral letter so that I could benefit from Government subsidies as it would be very costly with the referral letter issued by GP from my company. The new appointment date was delay to 15th January 2016.
Today, 18th November 2015 I saw an article in a news paper regarding Nasopharyngeal cancer. It stated that one of the symptoms to look out for possible signs of Nasopharyngeal cancer is a painless lump in the neck (three in four newly diagnosed patients have this symptom).
Now i’m a little concern because the lump in my neck is still there and maybe subconsciously I feel the lump had grown slightly bigger then before.
What do you think I should do? I’m worry that the hospital might tell me that I’m having some types of cancer and it has reach 3rd, 4th or finial stage, if I were to wait till my appointment date. I did tried calling the Hospital to ask for a earlier day but till now still not possible,

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Many sites offer nice-sounding advice about nutrition and exercise, but almost none have actually put this advice to work in a large-scale clinical setting. Starting in the late 90s, Dr. Mike Nichols operated a clinic wherein each patient was quantified with blood tests and other measurements, and an optimum diet and exercise regime suggested.
This became a continual process and Dr. Mike has accumulated data on hundreds of people for almost 20 years. At this point in the process, he knows what works, what doesn’t, how to restore health, slow aging, and block degenerative disease. But the formula is different for everyone, and without measurement, lifestyle recommendations are just a medical guessing game. Is Paleo best? For some, sure. But without measurement, there is no way to tell.
But more importantly, when the optimum lifestyle is determined, implemented, and actually achieved, almost all people get well, and life’s chronic diseases are slowed, often reversed.
This is no idle claim or hopeful promise. This has already worked in a clinical setting, long-term and with real people. Given how different people are, it is folly to try to apply a one-size-fits-all set of recommendations. The sooner this is realized, the faster the planet will get well. Quantitative Medicine is the future.

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Quantitative medicine is the practice of determining and modifying your health guided by direct measurement of meaningful biological markers. Everyone is different. The best diet is unique to each of us. Diet markers must be directly and precisely measured.

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My practice has been highly successful. Many many people have gotten well, have avoided degenerative diseases, have extended their lives. But my practice is full.
By starting this blog, I am taking the first steps to make Quantitative Medicine available to everyone. You, the patient, supply the self-discipline, physical, mental, and spiritual perseverance, and we will supply the information and resources you need to realize the full benefits of Quantitative Medicine.
By measurement, an optimally healthy lifestyle can be determined for anyone. The results are profound and pervasive. Degenerative disease is prevented or rolled back. Longevity – healthy active longevity – is increased. This has worked for over 2000 patients.
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